A true story, chronicling the fires of Tuolumne County and surrounding areas, after a particularly hot and smoky week spurs three fires in two days.
Written by a nearly eighteen year old, witnessing the world around her catch fire.
I suppose the grey wasn't smoke like I thought and really clouds, like my mom predicted.
We were on hole 12 at the mini golf course when the papers we were using started getting wet from fat raindrops and the nearby kids started freaking out about someone "spitting" on them. That was all there was.
I wish it would rain more. That's why I'm moving to Oregon for college. A true Californian loves rain, because it is so rare.
It was still cloudy and dark when I left for work this morning, at 5:30. I was going through a green light when I saw a fire truck speeding up on my right. I gunned it and got across before the engine — thank the Lord — but didn't hear any sirens. Just lights.
I haven't heard any news from CalFire yet, but I've texted my dad. I keep forgetting that while I've been up for a long time, my family has only been up a little while.
My friend SJ texted me a little while ago. She was right in the path of the Twist fire, but then it lived up to its name and twisted around to go the other way. She'd forgotten to text me about what was going on and decided to just check in quickly before she went to the lake.
•••
Tonight is Abby's 16th birthday party. She's having a murder mystery party, the kind you buy the script for online.
As it turns out, Joy, the youngest of us three, is the murderer, and she ends up winning.
We laugh off our loss and enjoy the cake before settling down for the movie: Avatar.
Earlier today, it was Abby's job to wipe down the chairs and table to get rid of the ash. There are tiny flecks still stuck in spider webs.
The fire truck I saw this morning was for something else, not specified in the update but clearly specified that it was not another fire.
One day!
We're almost to the end of the movie, at the sad part where everyone dies, when one of the friends, Ella, shrieks, "Did you spit on me!"
Katelyn denies it, and then we all realize the rain. Not much, just a few drops here and there, but enough to move their plans to sleep under their stars inside to the family room.
Like I said, true Californians love rain.
Sunday
After church today we went out to do a bit of exploring with Grandma and Grandpa.
While out, we saw our first fire in three days.
It was up by the Stanislas River, at this waterfall we often park by to poke around and take pictures.
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If you look between the trees on the right, you can see some grey smoke.
Grandpa offered to call it in to CalFire, since he was the only one with cell service, but Mom pointed out that the smoke was light grey, not dark, and there wasn't much of it, so they were probably already on it. He checked the news and found that she was right, so we left.
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Temperatures are blissfully dropping back to the upper eighties (Fahrenheit), and we've had a bit of rain.
Here's praying that we don't have any more major fires.
